Fake voters' list row rocks Palakkad bypoll; EC warns of action

As the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India-Marxist blamed each other for enrolling fake voters for the Palakkad assembly by-poll, the Election Commission on Tuesday said a list of such electors has been prepared and if they come to vote, they will not be prevented, but instead, action would be taken against them later.

IMAGE: UDF canididate Rahul Mamkoottathil during his campaigning for the bypoll in Palakkad, Kerala, November 18, 2024.Photograph: Courtesy Congress Kerala on X

The CPI-M, which has accused the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party of "enrolling fake voters", contended that they will take all legal measures to prevent such individuals from voting.

"There are legal and democratic ways of preventing them from voting," state excise minister MB Rajesh said on the eve of the by-poll in Palakkad.

On the other hand, both the Congress and the BJP claimed that the ruling CPI-M's reported remarks about stopping fake voters during the voting for the Palakkad assembly seat were aimed at deterring electors and would amount to taking the law into its own hands.

The Congress and the BJP also accused each other and the CPI-M of being involved in creating fake voters.

The by-poll in Palakkad will be held on November 20.

During the silent campaign in the Palakkad assembly constituency, Congress-led United Democratic Front candidate Rahul Mamkootathil, while visiting homes seeking votes, said the election officials were officers of the government and therefore, how did fake voters' names get registered on the electoral roll?

Mamkootathil, the state president of the Youth Congress, said that even the UDF was opposed to fake voters, but that issue should not be used to intimidate other electors from voting.

BJP's C Krishnakumar, who also visited homes in the constituency seeking votes, said such statements by CPI-M showed the Left party's tendency to take law into its own hands.

He said his party would take recourse to legal means to prevent fake voting as they were not in favour of physically blocking people from entering polling booths.

"There are police for that. Does CPI-M have no faith in its government's Home Department or the district administration?" he asked.

Left Democratic Front's candidate, P Sarin said that if the UDF and BJP were hoping to win the bypoll through fake votes, the Left would prevent it through legal and democratic means.

Sarin, amidst his door-to-door campaign in the constituency, said that the Left was not concerned by fake votes and urged the UDF and BJP not to bank on such tactics for a win.

Amidst the blame game, Palakkad District Collector S Chithra, who is also the Returning Officer, said that based on complaints of fake voters and double entries in the electoral roll, a probe was carried out and a list of such individuals was prepared.

"We handed over the list of such persons to the presiding officers in the polling booths. If the persons in the list show up for voting, the presiding officer will take their photograph and a written testimony from them before allowing them to vote.

"If they vote, it will become an evidence against them when we initiate action under section 31 of the Representation of People Act and if found guilty, will entail imprisonment for one year or fine or both," the collector told media.

She said it was a small list of persons who are suspected to be fake voters or have double entries.

Earlier in the day, Mamkootathil also said that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's recent remarks about Indian Union Muslim League supremo Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal would play a role in the Palakkad by-poll.

The UDF candidate claimed that the CM's remarks had communal undertones and indicated Vijayan's Sangh Parivar mindset.

While addressing a bypoll campaign meeting for LDF candidate P Sarin in Palakkad on Sunday, Vijayan criticised Thangal, who is the spiritual leader of a significant section of Sunni Muslims in Kerala, saying he was acting like a worker of Jamaat-e-Islami.

The by-poll was necessitated after the Congress MLA of the constituency, Shafi Parambil, got elected to the Lok Sabha from the Vadakara constituency.